Pages tagged "Advocacy"

The Sustainable Economies Law Center has officially submitted a letter of support for AB-129, the California Alternative Currencies Act. This bill makes an important amendment to the California Corporations Code, clarifying that the use and circulation of alternative currencies is not prohibited. While SELC has advocated for removing Section 107 of the CA Corporations Code, this bill still takes a step toward a more resilient monetary system by legitimizing the use of alternative currencies in California.

The term "alternative currencies" can denote a wide range of currency designs and projects, and is not clearly defined in this bill. SELC specifically advocates for "community currencies" - forms of exchange designed to meet the particular needs of specific communities or regions, and that are democratically controlled and managed by the communities using them.

The California Alternative Currencies Act (AB-129) updates California Corporations Code Section 107 to clarify that the issuance and use of alternative currencies is not prohibited in California.

This is an important clarification. The existing language of Corporations Code Section 107 is ambiguous and outdated, and might be interpreted to prohibit the creation and circulation of alternative forms of exchange - including community currencies, virtual currencies, frequent flier miles, rewards point systems, and other widely used and emerging forms of exchange.

After nearly two years of advocacy, Sustainable Economies Law Center and supporters across California are happy to see this outdated law clarified. If passed, California may go from one of the only states to potentially prohibit alternative currencies to the first state to explicitly acknowledge them!

Creating a Resilient Monetary System

Our centralized monetary system is fundamentally flawed. 97% of our money supply is put into circulation as debt by private for-profit banks, who control where that money first enters our economy. The vast majority of money flows toward housing and financial services when created by these banks as loans, bypassing the productive economy that provides essential livelihoods, goods, and services to communities. And once some of these Federal Reserve notes find their way into our communities, they tend to flow back out again through taxes and profits to out-of-town corporations. The US has one of the highest wealth inequality rates in the modern world: 93% of monetary wealth is owned by just 20% of the US population.

Communities across California, across the US, and across the world are creating their own forms of exchange that:

keep wealth circulating locally,

allow local businesses and community members to continue exchanging essential goods and services,

promote community cohesion by re-grounding economic relationships in real human connections, and

are designed to solve specific social, environmental, and economic problems.

As part of a larger strategy to reform our monetary system, community currencies can make our local economies much more resilient to economic volatility, effectively empower economically-marginalized populations with an inclusive and accessible form of exchange, and contribute to the movement for economic democracy by giving communities the power to design and issue their own currencies!

How you can get involved

SELC has been advocating for this bill for nearly two years, and we need your support to finally make sure it becomes law! If you or your organization would like to express support for this bill:

Download a template letter here and take a few minutes to make the letter personal and unique to your or your organization's perspective. Make any and all changes to the template that you'd like. At the very least, please add a few sentences about your organization and why this legislation is important to you.

Bills that would revamp the community college accreditation process and permit worker cooperatives are among the nearly two dozen proposed so far by Alameda Assemblyman Rob Bonta during the second half of the 2013-14 legislative session.

Advocacy Campaigns

Local governments can be instrumental in fostering the development of worker cooperatives by enacting policies that create incentives and remove key barriers to the growth of a thriving cooperative economy. But how do advocates for resilient, cooperative economies put their ideas into practice? Find updates on our current Oakland and Berkeley City campaigns, our ordinance language for both campaigns, and resources you can use to jump start local policy initiatives that promote worker coops as a grassroots, economic development strategy.

In 2016, the California Legislature passed AB 2883, making changes to the workers compensation law that failed to take into account and will have an adverse impact on cooperatives. In some industries, such as in food businesses, the cost of workers comp insurance will reduce workers’ take-home pay by as much as 11%. One worker-owned cafe has reported that AB 2883 will cost the business as much as $200,000 in 2017. A handful of cooperatives have convened to form a campaign group to change the law. Right now, we are gathering support from other cooperatives and organizations impacted by AB 2883. Find out more and get involved here!

The Sustainable Economies Law Center is proud to be a member of the California Worker Cooperative Policy Coalition and excited about paving new paths to increase democratic, worker-ownership in California. In the 2015 legislative cycle, we worked successfully with Assembly member Rob Bonta to pass AB 816! The bill created a legal entity for worker cooperatives in California, incorporating some exciting provisions regarding membership, capital raising, and default systems for democratically governed, worker-owned businesses! For more information, please visit our California Worker Cooperative Act campaign page here or find our updated bylaws for the new worker cooperative corporation on our online resource library, Co-oplaw.org.

Local governments can be instrumental in fostering development of worker cooperatives by enacting policies that remove key barriers and incentivize a thriving cooperative economy. By clicking the link, you will find a working draft of a sample city ordinance for the promotion of worker cooperatives.

Along with a coalition of organizations and currency supporters across California, Sustainable Economies Law Center has advocated to remove California Corporations Code Section 107, which states "[n]o corporation, flexible purpose corporation, association or individual shall issue or put in circulation, as money, anything but the lawful money of the United States."

In June 2014, California took a significant step toward further legitimizing the creation and circulation of community currencies and other innovative means of exchange with the California Alternative Currencies Act (AB 129). Signed into law by Gov. Brown, AB 129 repeals the outdated and vague Section 107 of the California Corporations Code, thus removing a significant legal barrier to the continued growth of the community currencies movement.